sorny

I just bought my 05 SH 2 weeks ago and it came with a pretty decent front tire (a Pirelli Diablo) and brand new Michelin Pilot 2CT. The 2CT looks more aggressive than the front so I'm not sure if its dangerous or not. I'm just street riding and not dragging or knee or anything.

HRCA#1

You'll probably find people that mix tires and swear it's fine. It's not, carcass and sidewall construction can be vastly different. I have never mixed and never would. I realize you may not be a knee dragger but that's not the point!

E.Marquez

Yes it's fine, No never, it depends.

There you go that about covers it.

And car tires on big cruisers should never be done either, its dangerous.. just ask the thousands of folks that put hundreds of thousands of miles on them...

Profile, carcass design, compound different for every set of tires, even in the same brand, same "size"
Mixing will get you varied results and some possible unstable riding characteristics..

Dangerous? well sure it could be...... maybe. At the least it will be different and in need of lots of riding time to feel them out.

If you have 4" chicken strips and have never used your brakes to just prior to lock up... You'll never notice the difference.. use any tire that has tread and holds air.

Personally... I don't mix.. I will at times mount up a second rear, same brand, size, model, compound to go with a partially worn front when running fast wearing soft tires... and the set is only a few months old. But even then that is a rarity.

I want as much as the tires can offer me in stability, predictability and excess performance beyond what i normally need.. so that there is some reserve....and so when I push past the tires limits.. they slide predictably with control. ( I loooove slide my bike when the opportunity is at hand)

Folks have been mixing tires since the first radial came out.. and it goes on today as well.. But with so many shops selling tires at lost leader prices... I see no reason to.

Just mounted new tires yesterday.... Ummmm fresh shoes waiting on plastic to go back together..

sorny

Yeah I think I'm ready to order a matching 2CT for the front. Tread design is much prettier anyways. That's a little more important than grip and stability.

I changed my last tire myself by using the zip tie method and it took zero tools or tire changing stands or anything, just zip ties and a large flat head screw driver. I think the 2CT front is just like $110 or so... at least the rear is the new one and the front is the one I'd be changing.

Wolverine

Right now I have a Bridgestone BT023 rear and a Metz Z6 front. Absolutely no weird handling issues AT ALL (and I ain't a back marker!). Run it for a while and be easy like you just put on fresh greasy donuts.
I am not running different brands on purpose. I spent the last 13 years faithful to Metzeler. The Z6 rear will give up traction after about 5k miles but still has 3k left in tread. I switched rears not long after mounting up a fresh (usually 10K) front. Why waist a good front??

jerryh

I may be interested in the pirelli if its CHEAP

smokinjoe73

Its fine. You should notice any issues pretty quick, dont go squishy sidewall one end and stiff in the other or touring & race, but 2 similar tires should be ok. Like bridgestone & dunlop are similar in stiffness, and pirelli & michelin are similar in soft sidewalls so should work.

sorny

I'll definitely keep that in mind. I checked my extra cash fund and it's down to about $3.00 so I think I'm riding on the old Diablo for a little while. But when I get a new one, if this one isn't too bald, I'll definitely let you have at it.

I think they're both pretty racey...the 2CT might be a little more extreme than the Pirelli Diablo but the Diablo isn't the cruiser looking one, it's like this:

HRCA#1

Joe you just validated what I told the guy, carcass and sidewall can be vastly different. He may be lucky with Pirelli and Michelin though I honestly don't know. But suppose it was pirelli and Bridgestone..can;t think of a bigger mismatch.

You as a racer know full well you don't mix!

smokinjoe73

Yeah, its about construction. Those 2 ought to get along fine, but be aware of pressure variances. On race tires, dunlop rears want 29 compared to pirellis wanting 21 which would be huge on the street.

This is really one of those myths. It would be more accurate if someone would give first hand (not hearsay) stories of disasters due to mismatched tires.

Like tire plugs. Every swears dont do it but it mostly brainwashing by stealerships who will scare you into buying a tire from them (shock).

I have like 40,000 miles on plugged tires so have concrete proof that its ok. I have yet to meet someone who has concrete proof otherwise. Not one.

Same with this. Someone step up and tell me firsthand how you are sure something bad happened with mixed brands. No one has such a story. Its a myth. Like public enemy says, dont believe the hype.

sorny

I'm running mid 30's pressure wise on the street. Is that a bad idea?

HRCA#1

Geez Joe,

Your first paragraph said to beware of mismatched tires. Then you go off on tire plugs and say you have 40k miles on a plugged tire. That may be but you don't have 40k on a motorcycle tire.

I raced in the 70's I have 3 WERA Championships, I worked for American Honda for 15 years including crewing the 1991 Commonwealth Team that saw Miguel DuHamel win the Daytona 200 and me putting Sadowski on the box in the SuperSport race which DuHamel also won.

I try not to get into controversy on this site but I will ask you this, have you ever mixed tires on the racetrack, not compounds but tires.

smokinjoe73

Yeah, 40 grand on plugged motorcylce tires year round, sun, rain, snow, etc.

I havent raced on 2 different brands, but never claimed to and this guy isnt racing.

Think of this. You change fork springs, shocks, wheelbase, fork tube hight, all that stuff, and you thing 2 different tires are the missing link?

So back to empiracle evidence. HRCA, no one in the 70s ran 2 different tires?

Do you have first hand evidence of a failure or crash that was no doubt due to 2 tire brands?

I mean if each tire is manufactured to hold up its end of the bargain, how could catastrophic failure happen in this way? Would 2 brands of suspension cause the same crash(which never happened)?

How can the laws of physics be put on hold if 2 dunlops can carry you & same with 2 bridgestones, how can one tire know to fail if it cant talk to the other?

I am not saying its ideal, but think back on your riding career, was your equipment always ideal? If you could cobble together a bike, you would.

I dont recomend doing it but these are similar tires and like I said, no proof of the missing link.

Wolverine

He isn't riding on the track so how/why does it matter?

HRCA#1

For the reasons I started with carcass and sidewall construction, and add to that tread pattern in the wet.

And no Joe no one I knew raced different brand tires, I still don't no anyone that does including you!

blamecanada